FODY's Low FODMAP Diet Blog!

The Low FODMAP diet is not a dairy-free diet. It does, however, limit lactose.

Confused? You are not alone. Most of us envision a glass of milk or a hunk of cheddar and think these represent dairy as well as lactose - and they do - but these foods have some very important differences when it comes to FODMAPs.

First of all, dairy is defined as mammal’s milk. So, in theory this would include camel’s milk, but last time we checked, that wasn’t readily available. For most of us this means products made from cow, sheep or goat’s milk, and that is what this article is referencing when we say “FODMAP dairy”.

(Note that this article is about traditional dairy and not alternative dairy products like almond milk, rice milk or the like.)

Low FODMAP Dairy

Let’s get to the good news first. Here is a partial list of the most popular Low FODMAP dairy items that you can enjoy. And yes, hard low FODMAP cheese are makes the list because believe it or not, they are Low in lactose, which makes them Low FODMAP!

Our lists do not contain exact amounts. We encourage you to use your Monash University Low FODMAP Smartphone App to check for serving sizes.

Memorize these facts and dining out and making decisions on the fly will be easier.

For instance, 2 Australian tablespoons of ricotta totaling 40 g is allowable, but more would bring you into high FODMAP territory.

As always, we suggest you keep your Monash University Smartphone App handy, which will help keep you on track for serving size amounts as well as updates on new foods that are tested for FODMAPs - including those in the dairy realm.